From Feb. 3 through May 2018, the Historical Society of Western Virginia will host “You Can Bank On Us: Mechanical and Still Banks from the Collections of Stephen and Tom Broker.”
The exhibit showcases banks manufactured from the earliest 1900s through the 1930s by such toy companies as A.C. Williams, Arcade, Hubley, Kenton, Grey Iron Casting Company and J&E Stevens.
The exhibit will be displayed at the Society’s O. Winston Link Museum and the History Museum of Western Virginia, housed in the historic former Norfolk and Western Railway passenger station on Shenandoah Avenue near Hotel Roanoke.
The bank collection was inspired by the men’s parents, Thomas O. and Evelyn F. Broker, who loved visiting antique shops on Cape Cod, Mass., throughout New England, and in their home state of Ohio. Evelyn Broker had been given a Boxer (Bulldog) bank as a child, and when the boys went with their mother on antiquing trips, she would direct them to the metals sections where they would be less likely to break things.
The greater part of Steve’s bank collection was assembled during those trips. Tom continued collecting banks in later years, often bidding on auction house sales of collections by such well known collectors as Hubert Whiting.
The Roanoke connection dates to 1965, when the parents moved to the city where Thomas Sr. served three years as General Counsel to the Norfolk and Western Railroad (now the Norfolk Southern), then headquartered in Roanoke. He later taught at Virginia Western Community College in Roanoke.
During the Brokers’ more than 20 years in the Roanoke Valley, the sons got to spend summers in the Blue Ridge Mountains and make friends, such as David Lemon, a member of the Historical Society Board. Lemon was responsible for bringing the Brokers’ collection to Roanoke. Stephen Broker, retired, lives in Cheshire, Conn., and Dr. Thomas Broker Jr. is emeritus faculty at the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham.
The cast iron “penny” bank exhibit is arranged in four groupings: Animals, Whimsicals, Buildings and Architectural, and Mechanical Banks. A sampling of books on collecting penny banks complements the exhibition, which will include an educational program for children, sponsored by Member One.
Group tour rates are available for all ages. Contact 540-982-5465 for more information and visit www.roanokehistory.org
